1960: Inaugural season began with hope and theft, ended in despair for Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys are 63 days away from kicking off their 64th NFL season. Beginning with today, we’ll countdown to opening day by recapping the previous seasons.

The Cowboys arrived in the National Football League in 1960. Dallas’ fans have one man to thank for their team’s existence: Lamar Hunt.

Hunt had tried to get into the NFL, and forming a new team in Dallas, for some time. But his efforts failed, partly because of Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall.

Marshall’s Redskins were the “Southern” franchise in the NFL and he did not want to give that up. When Hunt couldn’t get into the club, he started his own.

Throwing in his lot with other big money men, Hunt helped form the American Football League. And he placed a team in Dallas, the Dallas Texans.

Not wanting to yield the south to the upstarts, the NFL awarded an expansion franchise to Dallas and its owner Clint Murchison Jr. and Bedford Wynne.

But Marshall wasn’t yielding “his” territory without a fight. Unfortunately for Marshall, the new kids in the club fought dirty.

When Marshall refused to yield, the two men bought the rights to “Hail to the Redskins” and informed Marshall he would not be allowed to play his team’s fight song at their home games.

Marshall hauled down his battle flag and Dallas’ NFL team was born on January 28, 1960.

Late Start

The franchise started out as the Dallas Steers, then the Dallas Rangers. Wanting to avoid being confused with the professional baseball team in town, the franchise finally settled on Dallas Cowboys. The rest is history.

Tex Schramm was hired as president and general manager. Gil Brandt, a scout with the 49ers, was brought in as player personnel director.

And the team hired the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator, Tom Landry, as head coach. He appears to have been a good hire.

Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry speaks to quarterback Don Meredith during a game versus the New York Giants at Cotton Bowl Stadium.
Dallas, Texas 9/18/1966
(Image # 3004 )

Unfortunately, it took so long to make the expansion official, that the 1960 NFL Draft had already been held. The Cowboys would not be able to pick from the cream of the college crop.

Instead, they would have to rely on grabbing players off of the street, and picking through the unprotected players from the other teams in an expansion draft.

They also resorted to theft. Not surprising considering they’d used extortion just to come into the NFL world. And they even targeted the same victim both times.

Grand Theft Quarterback

Despite his small stature, Eddie LeBaron, had carved out a solid career at quarterback for the Redskins. But after seven years, and tiring of Marshall underpaying his players, LeBaron retired to practice law. His retirement was short-lived.

The Cowboys convinced LeBaron to come back to the game, and sent two draft picks to the Redskins that each lasted less than three seasons in D.C. to get him.

Now you know why the Redskins hate the Cowboys so much. LeBaron would play four lackluster years in Dallas. But he gave Don Meredith the time he needed to develop.

The First Game

With a band of outcasts and misfits, the Cowboys took the field against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cotton Bowl on September 24th. LeBaron opened the festivities with a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jim Doran for the Cowboys’ first touchdown.

Dallas got out to a 14-0 lead soon after and the home crowd started thinking NFL Championship. Then the Steelers showed up.

Bobby Layne tossed two long touchdowns late in the game to give the Steelers a 35-28 win. And now you know why we hate the Steelers. Well, that and those two Super Bowls in the 1970s.

The Winless Season

The Cowboys would come close to beating both Philadelphia the following week at home and the Cardinals in St. Louis a few weeks later. But the first franchise win would elude them throughout the season.

The highlight of the year came in the next-to-last game of the season at Yankee Stadium. Playing against Landry’s former team, the Cowboys managed to tie the Giants 31-31.

LeBaron tossed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, the last an 11-yard pass to Billy Howton to tie the game. LeBaron would finish the year with 1,736 passing yards and 12 touchdowns.

He threw 25 interceptions and was sacked 24 times. Meredith managed to start one game and L.G. DuPre led the team in rushing with 362 yards and three touchdowns.

The first season was in the books with a 0-11-1 record. More importantly, professional football had gained a foothold in Dallas.

The Texans, who would share the Cotton Bowl with the Cowboys for three seasons, finished 8-6 in their inaugural season under Hank Stram.

But the Cowboys were already winning the popularity battle with their rivals. The Texans would eventually pack up and leave for Kansas City after winning the 1962 AFL championship.

Tomorrow: 1961